Patients' perceptions of treatment benefits and correlation with end-of-life quality markers in advanced malignancy.

Authors

null

Neha Garg

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

Neha Garg, Rushad Patell, Laura E. Dodge, Eric James Miller, Jennifer Halleck, David Johnson Einstein, Mary K. Buss

Organizations

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA

Research Funding

No funding received
None.

Background: High-quality end-of-life (EOL) care is a recognized goal for modern cancer care delivery. Illness perception is often inaccurate among patients with cancer and may be associated with the quality of EOL care. We surveyed patients receiving palliative cancer-directed therapies to assess associations between accuracy of perceived likelihood of treatment response and recognized EOL quality measures in a cohort of patients with advanced solid malignancies. Methods: Patients and their oncologists were surveyed regarding perceived benefits of palliative cancer-directed therapies. Accuracy of perception was calculated as patient-assessed minus physician-assessed likelihood of benefit, expressed as a score from -100 to 100, with positive scores indicating that the patient was more optimistic than the oncologist with regards to treatment response. For deceased patients, data on quality of EOL measures, including timing of recent chemotherapy, emergency room (ER) visits, hospitalizations, and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, hospice enrollment, and location of death were collected. The primary outcome consisted of a composite of ER visit, hospitalization, or ICU admission within 30 days, and/or chemotherapy within 14 days of death. We tested for associations between the unadjusted mean and 95% confidence interval perception of treatment response and EOL metrics. Results: Of 69 patients, median age was 67 years (interquartile range: 61-75), and 50% were male. Cancers included lung (32%), gastrointestinal (22%), genitourinary (16%) and gynecological (16%). Treatments at time of enrollment included cytotoxic chemotherapy (65%), immunotherapy (23%) and oral targeted therapy (12%). Most patients (67%) enrolled in hospice > 7 days prior to death, and 59%, 19%, and 46% were hospitalized, had ICU admission, or an ER visit within 30 days of death, respectively. 12% received cancer-directed systemic therapy in the last 14 days of life. Patients’ accuracy of estimated treatment response was lower for patients with the composite quality outcome, suggesting poorer EOL quality, though this was not statistically significant (20.5, 95% CI: 12.4–28.7 vs. 28.5, 95% CI: 18.0–38.9, p = 0.24). Patients enrolled in hospice > 7 days before death had less accurate perception of treatment benefit (28.1, 95% CI: 20.5–35.8 vs. 13.5, 95% CI: 2.5–24.4, p = 0.03). There was no significant difference for other individual EOL quality measures (all p≥0.17). Conclusions: In this cohort of patients with advanced solid cancer, higher EOL quality measures did not correlate with accuracy of perception of treatment responses. Patients who were more optimistic compared to their treating oncologists were more likely to be enrolled in hospice for > 7 days before death. Improving EOL care for patients with advanced cancer requires more than ensuring accurate patient understanding of treatment goals.

Disclaimer

This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org

Abstract Details

Meeting

2022 ASCO Quality Care Symposium

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Poster Session B

Track

Palliative and Supportive Care,Technology and Innovation in Quality of Care,Quality, Safety, and Implementation Science

Sub Track

End-of-Life Care

Citation

J Clin Oncol 40, 2022 (suppl 28; abstr 188)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2022.40.28_suppl.188

Abstract #

188

Poster Bd #

A13

Abstract Disclosures

Similar Abstracts

Abstract

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

The impact of end-of-life quality metrics on date of death and hospice documentation over time.

First Author: Divya Deepak

First Author: Amy An

First Author: Melissa R Rosen

Abstract

2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium

Impact of a mortality prediction tool on end-of-life (EOL) quality measures.

First Author: Jody S. Garey